Changing Water pump etc.

[Joopin]

Okay the time has come to change the idler pully. I was doing some research on the web (since my chiltons doesn't tell me how) and they suggest to change the belt, (duh) belt tensioner AND water pump. So fine... I'll do that. Then I found another site that says you "may" have to pull the radiator to change the water pump. Then it says, "you may need to take the front grill off and definitely the top cross member that the hood-lock is attached too." WTF? There is alot of maybes here that I don't want to get into since its a daily driver not to mention I only have a couple hours of daylight to work on it

Is removing the radiator and grille necessary? Has anyone done this? Do I need a pulley puller? Im tempted to just bring it to a mechanic. Looking for some advice! Thanks in advance.

Joop

 

[jps4jeep]

you don't have a belt tensioner, you use the power steering pump to set the tention on the belt. Also spent the extra $10 on new upper and lower hoses... trust me, it sucks when you have to replace a hose, three weeks after you replace a water pump. Also if the T-stat is over 50K mile, why not while you have it drained.
OK (Jesse, you have a 4.0 right) then I would suggest taking the rad out. you need to take the shroud out anyways, might as well spend the extra 5 minutes pulling the radiator just in case, to insure that you don't put a wrench through it.

Here is how it should go..

-Drain coolant
-Unbolt the shroud, and fan, lift those out of the way.
-Remove Hoses
-unbolt Rad, pull it out of the way.
-remove the Water pump pully
-drink a beer
-remove water pump
-(optional) New T-stat
-use gasket cement (should be in a rattle can) spray the paper gaskets, should stick to the new pump
-bolt it on
-drink a beer
-button it up with new hoses, and belt.
-use Distilled water (CVS sells it for $1 per gallon) and antifreeze 50/50 mix
-Drink three beers, pat your self on the back.

if you still have my # call me, I can be of as much help as I can from 500 miles away.

 

[Wade]

i chaged my water pump without all that crap. i have a 91 yj 4.0. took me 1 1/2 hours. it was easy as hell, and at the time i had hardly any experiance turning wrenches.

 

[Wade]

listen to jps4jeep. not that my water pump didnt turn out ok but it would have been better if i had done it the way he described it. (just to be safe with the rad). plus all that beer helps too. its not a real hard job though.

 

[jps4jeep]

Honestly Jesse, if you can do a SOA and swap ina D44, you can do a waterpump.

 

[mud4feet]

jps4jeep's absolutely right.......and you should take his advice on all the "might as well's" also (Hoses, tstat, etc). You'll be thankful in the long run.

 

[Joopin]

Well I never said I couldn't do a water pump, (don't worry, I don't take it personally!) I have changed them on other vechicles before... but I just didn't want to remove the ENTIRE GRILLE like this one site was stating. One thing though, WHAT ABOUT THE IDLER PULLEY!?!?! I have never changed one of those, Oh and I have no idea what a "T-stat" is.

John, I lost my phone recently, with all my #s... PM me your cell just incase... that would be WICKED!

 

[mud4feet]

T-stat = thermostat = lazy typers

 

[Joopin]

T-stat = thermostat = lazy typers

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, i knew that.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

-use Distilled water (CVS sells it for $1 per gallon) and antifreeze 50/50 mix

Smart man....my daddy would be proud of you!! Aside from him, you're the only person I've ever heard say to use distilled water in the radiator.8)

 

[TwistedCU]

you're the only person I've ever heard say to use distilled water in the radiator.8)

I thought that was common knowledge. It keeps out impurities that cause corrosion.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I thought that was common knowledge. It keeps out impurities that cause corrosion.

Not in these parts it's not. A mechanic will look at you like you're stoned if you ask them to use distilled water. I've always used it except for those emergency situations when there wasn't any available.

 

[redrooster]

I can't speak for all Jeeps out there, but the grill pulling method on my Jeep would be a lot easier than trying to fish the radiator out. Plus you don't have to worry about damaging it since it is still encased in the grill.
The CJ has two grill support rods coming from the firewall (don't know if a YJ has those), disconnect them, the three fender bolts on each side, the body mount bolt underneath, and unplug the headlight harness...BAM she comes right out. Of course I can pull my radiator in about the same amount of time, but with the grill off you don't have to stand on the bumper and reach over to get to the water pump.
Shouldn't be too hard whichever way you decide.

 

[Joopin]

WHAT ABOUT THE IDLER PULLEY!

Yeah Rooster, you got a point there about pulling the grille off. YJs do have those support rods too.